Notes: Time for the tournament sponsored by an online betting site as the tour fights rampant match-fixing…Loaded dirt field…Rafa makes his first appearance since being upset at Wimbledon…Tough starts for (1) Rafa vs. Hot Sauce

Notes: When world No. 1 Serena Williams is your only Top 20 player in the field, is it safe to say you’ve put all your eggs (aka appearance money) in one basket?…Wildcards were awarded to Swedes Sofia Arvidsson, Susanne Celik and Rebecca Peterson…Pulling from the event were the American triumvirate of Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens…In last year’s final Barthel beat Chanelle Scheepers…Former champs in the field are Barthel (2014) and Serena Williams (2013).

Notes: Gulbis is defending the Nice title (d. Federico Delbonis) then a Roland Garros semifinal…Gulbis is 1-11 win-loss this year…(8) Monaco could start against Querrey…Wildcards went to France’s Maxime Hamou and Lucas Pouille, and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis…Withdrawing from the tournament were Simone Bolelli, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Martin Klizan, and Diego Schwartzman…Gulbis (2015) is the lone returning champ in the field.